EQ/RQ: 250-Hour Certification in Relational Leadership™

• 150 hours as a participant in at least 50 in-house Relational Flow or T-Group sessions.
• 40 hours as a participant at a minimum of 3 in-house retreats.
• Full participation in 3 book study modules, including one 10+ session module on Integral Relationship Theory. 80% attendance required for each module, for a total of 50 hours. Please turn in your attendance record at the end of each module.
• 10 hours of one-on-one psychotherapy or relationship coaching during the certification period. You may choose any coach or therapist
• You must maintain HeartFire Membership during the time you are accumulating certification hours.
• Minimum time to certification of 18 months to give time to understand the practices more deeply.
• Note: While not a requirement, we hope to offer practicum opportunities to anyone wanting to get a jump start on the required hours for your 500-hour certification. There will be opportunities on a monthly basis to co-lead T-Group or other activities within the community, with support from Benji. It will also include an advanced monthly Relational Mastermind Group. We are still discovering what this process should involve: feedback welcome as we build our 500-hour certification!

Summary of Learning Objectives:

We frame the learning objectives in terms of how they will apply in your personal and professional lives.

There are 3 sub-categories of learning objectives: Personal, Professional, and Visionary. Those seeking certification must demonstrate proficiency in each of these areas prior to applying for certification:

Personal Objectives:

1. Demonstrate the capacity to resolve conflicts with friends and partners.
2. Demonstrate the ability to precisely name all forms of emotional experience (EQ).
3. Demonstrate the ability to remain present and centered in the face of others’ intense emotions.
4. Demonstrate the capacity to clear connections and negotiate desires with peers and family members.
5. Demonstrate the capacity to notice projection and to use “I-language” when expressing your own experience. This is called, “owning your experience.”

Professional Objectives:

1. Demonstrate the capacity to bridge differences in an ad-hoc team to reach a state of team flow.
2. Demonstrate the ability to resolve activity-based conflict, such as on a work team.
3. Demonstrate the ability to accurately reflect back others’ perspectives.
4. Demonstrate the ability to calm one’s own nervous system when triggered.
5. Demonstrate the ability to engage openly and with skillful transparency with diverse people.

Visionary Objectives:

1. Develop initial sensitivity to the unspoken emotions present in a group or organization.
2. Demonstrate initial understanding of Integral Theory, including the stages of adult development.
3. Demonstrate the ability to name and shift one’s own state of awareness using mindfulness techniques.
4. Demonstrate the ability to recognize and name states of flight, flight, freeze, and social engagement in oneself and in groups.
5. Demonstrate the initial capacity to unhook, ground, and feel clear after intense group or team interactions.

Methodology:

Our training is rigorous and fully experiential. The 250 hours in the name of this training represents in-person, experiential practice time, beyond readings and discussions. The word experiential means that we rely on your in-the-moment experience to help you learn the material, instead of teaching from powerpoint slides or long lectures. Our format is usually to share 20-30 minutes of theory, and then to apply it for several hours, with pauses for discussion and integration.

Our 250-hour training includes two different modalities: T-Group and Relational Flow. Through our T-Group immersions, you will learn to name your emotions, to calm your nervous system, and to be open and skillfully transparent around diverse people. T-Group is an emotional intelligence practice that focuses on putting words to feelings, states, and other forms of primary meditative experience.

Through our Relational Flow immersions, you will learn how to negotiate your needs, to clear connections, and to engage in states of team or group flow. Relational Flow is a relational intelligence (RQ) practice that focuses on maintaining meta-awareness and meditative presence while engaging in conversation and other activities within an ad-hoc group.

Our book studies and courses offer targeted intellectual training in key areas related to personal development, shadow work, and the ability to work with difficult emotional experiences. Finally, our retreats offer a chance to synthesize what you have learned over the course of several days, with the possibility of breaking long-held relational habits for personal breakthroughs.

Our capstone Relational Mastermind Course offers you a in-depth practice in essential topics for relational mastery, such as attachment theory, communication skills, stages of love and connection, and personality types. This course involves monthly 4-hour gatherings with home integration assignments with a group of peers who are also pursuing the 250- or 500-hour certifications, as an advanced study group. Topics are on a 2-3 year rotation. This advanced course will begin in 2025 as an additional requirement.

Ultimately, the success of this methodology depends on you:
~ The bravery to stick with difficult emotions to overcome long-held relationship habits
~ The willingness to practice what you are learning at home – to change the patterns that currently dominate your relationships
~ The self-care to not push yourself too hard or too fast: opening and growing take time.

If this path is for you, I hope you will join us!

We will add a more detailed FAQ section soon… let us know your questions and feedback at: (303) 847-5263 (send a text message).

FAQ:

Do my current T-Group hours count?

Your past hours in T-Group count if you have been a HeartFire Member. As stated on our website since Fall 2022, up to 6 consecutive months of your hours prior to your membership may count if you have been dropping in or attending with a 10-pass. We do not consider people with 10-pass or drop-in payments to be part of the 250-hour certification program. You are responsible for tallying and proving your past hours.

What is the total cost?

The total cost depends on how many months you take to complete your hours. Basic costs include your HeartFire Membership, which includes your hours toward Relational Flow, T-Group, and book studies (180 of the 250 hours).

Your membership grants you large discounts on our retreats, which we try to make affordable for as many people as possible. The major expense is the 10 Relational Mastermind sessions, which you can purchase as either an up-front package or as a monthly add-on to your HeartFire Membership.

Are scholarships available?

In the first round of training, we will be more flexible around offering financial assistance, as we hope to graduate as many people as possible in the first cohort. Please plan to join the first cohort (2024) if you need financial assistance, and we will work out the details with you of a fair-trade, barter or other work study basis.

We do hope you will contribute toward the well-being of the community by supporting us to the extent you are able, as running this program is very expensive for us.